SAC Talent Show: microphones and… Muppets?
The evening was muggy, streams of rain pouring down from all directions. Regardless of the inconvenient weather, a supportive crowd voyaged through the rain to support their peers at the 11th annual Student Activities Council Talent Show on April 19. Eager SCAD students sat in their seats waiting to be entertained by their peers.
Needless to say, the crowd was far from disappointed as the artists vocalized, strung, gyrated and “kermitted” on stage for a chance to win the tantalizing $300 prize.
Weeks before the main attraction, many performers were scrambling together time to practice with their partners or find solitary time with their instruments.
“We worked on this piece collectively for only three days,” said Whitney Minors, a performing arts major, who sang an acoustic version of “Nobody’s Perfect,” accompanied by her friend Daniel Holmes, an advertising major.
“We have been playing together for quite a while, though,” Holmes explains. “We’ve wanted to do this song in particular for years…”
Finishing up their second year at school, the musical duo had to balance collaborative practice between work and classes in order to compete against nine other eager competitors. Even with the sudden loss of a guitar pick, they powered through to give the audience an applause-worthy performance.
SCAD’s very own eclectic dance team, the Konfidential Dance Team, blazed the stage with smooth choreography, dancing to the latest hits from artists like Rihanna. The crowd was hooked from the start when the dancers flooded the floor, taking their positions in slow motion until they popped into their fast paced hip-hop routine. The group consists of many SCAD majors, ranging from performing arts to illustration. With only a year of experience together, it took them seven weeks of rehearsal to prepare.
Arkar Hyaw, a second-year architecture student from Burma, played a solo guitar number. With only microphone, a guitar and a variety of strumming techniques, Kyaw had the audience tapping respectively to his soothing acoustic style.
“I’ve been playing guitar for around three and half years now, but I worked on this song for like, a month,” said Kyaw. When he is not crafting his sketches for tight deadlines in his building arts classes, he enjoys spending time with his strings, exploring new ways to tap and chime his guitar. While he was very shy on stage, his love for music spoke loud enough for all to hear.
SAC Talent Show veteran Joey Nasser took a more sidesplitting approach to the competition. Now a fourth-year majoring in animation, Nasser has been doing stand-up comedy since the eighth grade.
“This is my ninth consecutive talent show performance,” Nasser states.“It’s also the first time I had ever rehearsed in my life… we rehearsed for about two weeks.”
Nasser kept his friends highly entertained, using his seasoned vocal virtuosity to beat-box, recite the 50 states in under 30 seconds, and reenact nostalgic video game intros.
Closing out his performance, Nasser left the audience with a ukulele version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” His fiancé, and fourth-year student, Cheryl Thrower, joined him on stage for the second verse with Kermit and Chipmunk hand puppets, acting along to his quirky ukulele song.
Spectators were also serenaded by Fare the Gap, Aaron Mendoza, Katrina Lenzly (Cooley Savant), Kristen Johnson (Kay Dene), George Lovett, and The Gandalfs, who all put on a phenomenal show. However, the long awaited results for the winners were in the hands of three judges.
After a high spirited drum session from the SCAD Drumline, the anticipated results were in. Contestants clutched onto their seats as the host revealed the names on each huge check.
In third place, taking home the $100 prize was Nasser.
“This is the most fun and natural I have ever felt [on stage],” said Nasser. “It really just felt like a conversation with a whole bunch of strangers. And the last couple of acts were insane! This was a really good competition.”
Taking second place with the $200 dollar prize was the Konfidential Dance Team. The team was stoked when they lined up on stage to get their award. “We would like to thank our other members for coming out tonight and supporting us!” team leader Nathaniel Myles said. “I am so proud of my dance team, you will definitely see more of us.”
And finally, receiving the$300 grand prize for his acoustic guitar playing was Hyaw. Extremely shocked by his sudden win, the humble winner uttered a mere, “Thank you for coming!”
Even though Minor and Holmes went home empty handed that night, they were very thankful for having the opportunity next year.
“We had fun! I had fun,” Holmes assures. They loved the experience and will be performing again in the future. With a positive outlook, the duo took the recent loss as a lesson, sticking to their motto, “Hey, you gotta’ get rich, or die tryin’.’”
